The Meaning Of A Dream
by animephoenix
Summary: What does Pirate King mean, really? Ch:2:-Selfish-: Because he wasn't a hero.
1. Dream

_"I don't want to conquer anything, the Pirate King is the one with the most freedom!" _

As a child, Luffy had called out to Shanks that he, Luffy, would become King of the Pirates. A childish whim, the belief and hope of surpassing others and becoming stronger. That's all it was at first. Becoming stronger than Shanks, going on an adventure. The weight of those words claiming his 'dream' were not heavy. Not yet.

Luffy knew all the Strawhat's dreams and the reasons behind them. Their personalities, their pasts. In truth, the crew knew nothing about Luffy, only his personality, what they had done together, and that he had a brother. Luffy claimed that the past was the past. He didn't care what happened before, only what's happening now.

Yes, that was part of it. But...Luffy had a larger reason. Maybe he was doing it unconsciously, or maybe he knew. He didn't want to look back at the past, it would only drag him down. Luffy's past was not of an average person, it was painful, and filled with grief. He didn't want anyone to know of his past, not without telling them himself. His crew had painful pasts also, and that didn't make them any less of a person. But Luffy thought different about himself. He didn't want to see pity, pity others had shown his crew mates, he didn't want it directed to him.

He didn't need it, it would just be more baggage. Luffy didn't want the image of him his crew mates saw to change.

Luffy's words of becoming Pirate King first gained weight after Sabo. After his brother. It was loneliness that started it, and Sabo that got it rolling. His desires clashed, and he wasn't certain what he wanted anymore.

What did it really mean to have a dream? To die? To have such a desire that you would accept death if it meant accomplishing it? What did 'Pirate King' even mean? To go on a grand adventure, to prove to everyone he was strong, that's what he wanted, wasn't it? Luffy didn't know anymore. Pirate King was nothing if it meant he was alone.

More weight piled on when Ace left Goa. Luffy smiled and waved, even though, despite his apparent happiness, he was crying inside. He was alone again. Not in the sense that Ace was gone forever, like Sabo, but Luffy was alone. The nights were darker than he remembered, colder too. The monsters and beasts of his dreams were scarier, and he had only the air to talk to. Dadan and the bandits were okay, occasionally, but Luffy missed Ace, and Sabo.

For a while, the term Pirate King was said with scorn. It was a ridiculous dream. What was the point? Why did he want to be Pirate King? Why?

Still, he set out with those words. His 'dream'. Was it a dream? He spoke those words loudly, clearly, with confidence. Luffy seemed so sure of himself. That was the picture he built up for his comrades. Because in the beginning, it was for them. He thought maybe he'd found the reason for his dream, to help his nakama achieve theirs. Eventually it became more. It became his title. He was going to be Pirate King, he was certain. He would be the strongest, someone who could protect his Nakama, he would be so strong, no one would ever be able to touch them.

Then it changed again. Ace was gone. Just like Sabo. Luffy's heart shattered. So did the dream he had cradled. Pirate King? Please. Luffy snorted and cursed his foolishness. He was supposed to become the strongest, to protect his nakama, his brother. His wonderful, beautiful, brother...

What was the point of being strong to protect others if the journey only took them all away?

And again he reconsidered his dream, and its meaning.

It took a long time to fix his heart and mind, and even then, his heart would never be the same, and he knew it. Ace was special. For Ace's life Luffy would have thrown away Pirate King without a second glance, or killed himself.

Sabo, who died for freedom, Ace who died from freedom. Freedom. There was that word, the one that was intertwined with the very origins of Pirates.

Why had his brothers strived for freedom so much?

Freedom.

In the next two years, Luffy realized something. Freedom was the ultimate achievement, it was both his brother's dreams. Pirate King was a title to the person at the top, and the top was the freest. That's when the meaning of his Dream finally fell together.

The meaning of Luffy's dream was freedom. The world's most precious item.

Pirate King, it was a title, one that he would attain.

He would get that freedom. That freedom his brother's wanted. Ace and Sabo were in his heart, his mind, in every decision he made.

Freedom belonged to them, so Luffy would get it for them.

_"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" _


	2. Selfish

_"I don't want to be a hero...say there was feast, a hero would share the meat. I WANT TO EAT ALL THE MEAT!"_

Luffy was selfish.

He'd been told that a lot. Selfish Captain, selfish idiot, selfish, selfish, selfish.

Luffy knew he was selfish, he had always been. It had never been a problem for him, he was fine with being selfish, that's how human's were, that was how Luffy was.

When there was food, he wanted to eat it all. He loved food, so of course he wanted it all to himself. What rational person wouldn't want something they loved all to themselves? His desire for food made others label him as selfish. He didn't share. He'd never really shared much, now that he thought about it.

He only shared a few things.

He didn't share a lot of others.

Because Luffy was selfish, he kept his memories and past to himself. He took lots and lots of food for himself. He greedily took people as his. Because once Luffy was interested, you never escaped him.

Luffy was selfish because he wanted things. He wanted freedom, he wanted Nakama, he wanted love. He didn't like loneliness, he didn't like pain. But he never told anyone these thoughts because, he was selfish. His mind was selfish. He hid so much from everyone because he wanted to keep it all to himself. His mind, past, memories, beliefs, they were his and no one else's.

His decisions always were obeyed. When he wanted a nakama he got one. He was selfish that way. He demanded a lot, attention, food, affection, loyalty. But the thing was, they gave it to him, easily. He knew the way his nakama looked at him. They said he was an idiot, the laughed at him, hit him. But they loved him, trusted him, and would listen to every word he said. They were his, and only his and that's how he wanted it.

If he asked them to die with him, they would. Not that he would ever want that. His nakama were his, nothing could take them away, especially death. What was his was his.

Not death's, not the governments. No one's. No one's but his.

He was selfish like that.

His brothers were his. They were.

In his mind, they would always be his. His brothers. His Ace. His Sabo. In his mind, even if they weren't with him anymore, they would never leave Luffy.

No one really could leave him, anyway.

Luffy was selfish. When he met Ace and Sabo, he decided, selfishly, that they were his. Forever.

When Luffy met Zoro, he saw a man with a dream. A man who's dream would leave if he stayed there. Luffy knew that. So, even against Zoro's will, Luffy claimed Zoro. Zoro was his now. His first mate, his swordsman, his nakama. Because Luffy was selfish, he didn't want to let Zoro go, he kept getting stronger and strong and made sure he was always better than all his nakama. Because they couldn't leave.

He refused to give Nami up. She was his, he had already decided. His navigator. His nakama. There was no way he would let her go back to Arlong. Nami belonged on Luffy's crew because Luffy said so.

Usopp was Luffy's, too. Usopp was his sharpshooter. His nakama. Usopp was brave, even if Usopp himself couldn't see it. Luffy decided Usopp was his. So he took Usopp with him, added the sharpshooter to his crew. And when Usopp was angered over Merry, and Luffy was sad because he knew he couldn't save Merry, even if, in all his selfishness, he didn't want to let her go, Luffy didn't give up Usopp. Usopp wouldn't leave. Luffy knew. He believed. Usopp was his, so he would always come back. So he let Usopp grieve, apologize, then come back.

Sanji was always Luffy's. Luffy knew, because Luffy was selfish. Sanji had a dream much like Luffy's, an impossible dream. Luffy liked that, liked people like him. Sanji was a fantastic cook, and Luffy knew it was meant to be. Sanji was quickly labeled as Property of Luffy. His cook, his Nakama. No one would take Sanji, not now that he was on Luffy's ship.

Chopper was strange. But Luffy liked strange. He wanted strange, he wanted to have everything. He was selfish. Such an amazing creature would not pass from Luffy's clutches. Chopper was quickly his, Luffy didn't care if he had to steal the reindeer from the crazy doctor lady himself. Luffy had already decided Chopper was his doctor, his nakama, so Chopper's place was now with Luffy.

Robin was an unusual cause. Luffy had, at first, not liked Robin. Luffy was selfish, he wanted things done his way. How dare she try to tell him how to get somewhere? And then finding that she was in fact an enemy. But you see, that's were Luffy's selfishness came in once again. Robin was strange. Luffy was suddenly interested. She had a devil fruit, and was mysterious. He had decided, quite instantly, that she would not die. He would save her because she was now his. And once her past caught up with her, he saved her again, because she wasn't allowed to leave. Ever. Luffy was to selfish to ever let anyone go.

Franky was also his. Luffy was angry at first, because how dare the cyborg lay a hand on what was Luffy's? Then it simmered down. Franky was exotic. He had a strange personality, body, and powers. Luffy was hooked immediately. Franky was actually a nice guy, and Luffy found it in his heart to forgive him, at the cost of becoming Luffy's. Luffy claimed Franky. Franky was his. His shipwright.

Brook was amazing. A walking skeleton? Immediately he was Luffy's. Brook came along easily, but then Moria interrupted. How dare Moria take Brook's shadow? That shadow belonged to Brook, and, technically, Luffy. So Luffy beat him. It took a lot, but it was worth it. No one was allowed to take what was Luffy's.

He saved all his Nakama. Now they could never leave him. It was selfish. It was.

But then again, his Nakama were selfish too. Luffy was their's. They had wants, desires, dreams. They were all selfish in their own way. They were humans.

They were Pirates.

_"I'm no hero, I'm a Pirate!"_


End file.
